Tim Sylvia says he’d knock out Stefan Struve in the first round

With the UFC’s heavyweight division dealing with a recent surge from Strikeforce it turns out there’s a former UFC champion who also wants to get in on things in the form of Tim Sylvia. While he’s publicly lobbied for a second shot in the organization where he held the title on multiple occasions, “The Maine-iac” is now reaching out to fans in hope their voices will be heard by the Zuffa brass. He’s also taking a few of the UFC’s current athletes to task in the process.

“I think I deserve to be there,” said Sylvia in a video he posted on Twitter. “For the people that hate me, I really need you to tell me why. I don’t understand it. If anything I’m basically one of you guys. I wasn’t a college athlete. I wasn’t much of an athlete at all. I had to work my ass off to get to where I am today.”

Sylvia, who is 6-2 since losing to Fedor Emelianenko, also questioned why fighters he feels he’s superior to both in terms of skill and marketability are given an opportunity in the Octagon while he can’t get a sniff. Among the names mentioned is Stefan Struve’s, the 6’11 “Skyscraper” who pounded out Dave Herman last night at UFC on Fuel 1.

Grouping Struve in with Christian Morecraft and now-released Joey Beltran, Sylvia stated, “The list goes on and on. I don’t understand why any of these guys are in the UFC. I think I’d knock them out in the first round.”

The 30-7 Sylvia also added that people who don’t like him should want to see him be proven wrong by getting his ass kicked inside the Octagon.

At 35 and with a birthday in March it seems Sylvia’s time may be running out. However, given his championship-winning history, having slimmed down to the point he can make 265 pounds, and some relative success as of late including wins in his last two fights, stranger things have certainly happened.

I think DW addressed this either yesterday or today and basically was saying unquestionably a clear cut NO…. He said when AA and Slyvia were the top of the heap the division was nothing and AA & Slyvia were just knocking each other out back & forth every other weekend… He basically says that he feels guys like that can not hang with the new caliber of HWs in the UFC and it’s pointless having them be part of the division… I think Hershal Walker got lumped into there as well but DW spoke with much more regard and respect towards Walker but basically said the guys in his 50s it’s not happening.

Morecraft made $6k to show, I think Beltran made like 12k show salary. (both guys have been cut BTW) If Big Tim is willing to get paid what those guys are getting paid, give him a shot. Once the UFC brings in all the HW’s from SF, he’d be a good gate keeper to the top 20.

and Timmmay, when you’re supposed to be an athlete but instead are fat, sloppy, and crap your pants on national TV, people tend to think less of you.

I didnt like him because he didnt go in to finish fights anymore….he just loped around and threw jabs and crosses….I think Struve would roll over big Tim as he’s a better striker better grappler AND fights with a shitton of heart. Sorry Tim…shouldnt have had the most boring title fights in history (vs. Monson and AA)

Let me clue you in to why MMA fans hate you, Sylvia (even though we already know you know exactly why): You’ve let yourself become an embarassment, and don’t admit it. You patronize MMA fans by pretending we haven’t noticed that you’ve blown up, shown an unwillingness to stay in shape, and that you got knocked out in seconds by an out-of-shape, middle-aged, past-his-prime boxer, in an MMA bout, no less. You gave fuel to all those cocky boxers out there claiming to own MMA fighters with your carelessness & lazy attitude. Even in this whining video you posted, you look fat. Hope that helps, bro.

Tim, no one hates you; in fact, at this point, very few people are emotionally invested in you to eve summon up the effort it takes to roll their eyes and mumble “sure, whatever”.

Yes, you got booed quite a bit. I’d rather watch paint dry and book-end that experience with two baseball games than re-watch even a round of your fights with Monson and AA Pt 3 ever again.

You got crushed by a man in his mid-40s who came out of retirement pretty much because he identified you as the weakest champion, and took your belt. Captain America or not, Tim, you couldn’t beat a man in the twilight of his career; you’re not going to have a hope in Hell against a guy your size who uses his gym membership and fights with heart. Guys like Struve showed more desire to win in losing than you did in winning.

Then there’s the Mercer fight. Then there’s the Fedor fight. You looked like shit. That’s “where you are today”.

I don’t hate you Tim, not as a person or a fighter, but I loathe this notion that you think you can hang in the UFC’s current heavyweight division. The difference between now and your glory days is an entire revamp of the division, an increase in overall heavyweight talent, and the fact the only thing you’ve worked on is your pie-eating technique.

Agree 100% even though Tim might see sucsess in the lower rankings, I do not see him better than 10 in the UFC, and the class would have to be pretty shallow at the time to hit that. Not that I would mind if he were given the chance, I just do not see it going anywhere. Hope he kept his part time cop gig, he’s aproching 40, he will need somthing to fall back on. Guess he could pull a Dan Severan, continue to do local small shows until he needs a walker to make it to the ring.Please NO.

Tim Sylvia could only hope to be as awesome as The Beast. He’s one of the few pro-wrestlers I ever “marked out” for. Awesome guy, good interview, and quality fighter / pro wrestler. Another guy born too late IMO.

MCM has it right here. If Tim Sylvia is willing to fight for 10,000 or less I say why not. I dont understand those fans that treat the UFC as if it is theirs and they need to protect it from M1 or Tim Sylvia. Truth is that a lot of the HWs in the UFC are not very good at all and Sylvia is better. Why not sign him for a fight? Id watch it and so would most of you. If he is asking big money I dear say he will be told to take a hike but if he is asking for an opportunity to earn a spot in the UFC, let him fight. I would put him against Nelson. I know some of you will think thats crazy but I think Nelson is seriously B grade.

Logic, I’m suprised, but i agree with you. IF he were to come back, I think Roy would be the best choice. If he can’t beat big country, Id say that at this age and stage in his career, UFC not the best fit for him.

Not for nothing but is Timmaay represented by a manager? I mean this isn’t the way to get back into the UFC… Get a manager and lay all your cards on the table including what you guys are saying about the level of salary he would fight for and he needs to get a manager who has the ability to gauge the climate of the timing to approach the decison makers and get answers from brass along the lines of hey if we get 2 more impressive wins then can we come talk to u… I mean there has to be a better way. DW said himself why are they twitter bombing me? they should be stalking joe silva… I just think if Tim is doing this all by himself and relying on fans internet reaction then he’d be better off starting an online petition and fowarding it to Zuffa rather then having fans just retweet shit or right dumb tweets to DW…

OK so whose going to start the Tim Slyvia online petion and you guys can even put in there as a stipulation it’s 10grand to show 10 grand to win one fight contract… a win opens the doors to a possible 3 fight deal.

I’ve got no hate for Timmy as a person, but he was a part of some of the most legendary snoozers in UFC history. I’m not very interested in seeing Tim lumber around the ring, jabbing his opponents to death en route to another uninspiring decision victory.

That being said, I think Tim is correct in that he would KO some of the lower level UFC HW’s. It ain’t pretty, but Tim is a competent boxer with pretty solid TDD.

i’d like to see Tim get another shot, if he took the job seriously he could beat some of the nobodies in the UFC. i’ll always remember his ufc debut against cabbage and also kicking Tre’s head off, both awesome fights

I have no personal hate for Tim and if he would knuckle down and really devote himself to getting in shape, he might be able to get some of his old reputation back. He’s got the physical tools to beat a lot of people, he just hides them under mounds of fat and excuses.